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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Enbridge
outlines new crude oil pipeline project to serve Cushing Hub

PONTIAC, Ill. - Enbridge representatives on April
23 discussed a proposed new pipeline project that would begin north of Pontiac,
Ill., and terminate at the Cushing, Okla., hub beginning in 2014.

While the project is in its preliminary stages, Enbridge is holding open
houses in the four states affected - Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma -
to try and educate the public on the proposed 600-mile pipeline.

An Enbridgeopen house was held
at the Pontiac Rec Center and about 50 people had stopped in by 7 p.m., said
Lorraine Little, senior manager of Enbridge public affairs.

"There has been good interest shown for the
project," she said.

The proposed crude oil pipeline would run parallel to the current
Spearhead pipeline for the most part, said Jerrid Anderson, project manager.
About 170 miles would be in Illinois, he said.

"There would be about a 50-foot offset between the pipelines. The
new line will not replace the Spearhead. They would both be operational,” he
explained.

The Spearhead line has a capacity for 190,000 barrels per day (b/d),
while the new pipeline would be able to carry 600,000 b/d. The new pipeline,
originally conceived to use 30-inch diameter pipe, was changed to a larger
36-inch diameter pipe. The pipe would be buried four feet underground.

Friday, April 27, 2012

A proposal by Canadian Energy giant Enbridge, Inc.
to partially reverse the flow of a Canadian pipeline has received 41,000
comments in opposition.

The reversal is the first step in a plan to ship
tarsands oil through New England in order to access East Coast and overseas
markets.

Comments to the Canadian National Energy Board
(NEB) expressed concerns about the environmental and public health impacts of
the proposal.

The NEB, the Canadian federal agency that oversees
permitting interprovincial pipelines, is reviewing Enbridge's proposal to
reverse the flow direction of a portion of its aging 62-year-old pipeline to
move tar sands crude approximately 125 miles from Sarnia to the Westover Oil
Terminal, outside of Hamilton, Ontario. Pipeline companies have sent clear
signals that the real intent is a long-range plan to ship tar sands oil further
on through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to tankers in Portland harbor for
Eastern U.S. and overseas markets.

"A more responsible approach would be for the
Canadian Energy Board to order an investigation into the full environmental
impact of the larger project, including the safety implications of shipping tar
sands and impacts on the environment, waterways and communities and carbon
pollution from burning tar sands oil," said Jim Murphy, senior counsel at
NWF. "Enbridge is trying to skirt scrutiny and downplay their goals by
breaking the plan into smaller pieces. The public isn't fooled. New Englanders
are opposed to tar sands in our region and demand a transparent process."

The latest permit application follows Enbridge's
2008 effort, a pipeline project called "Trailbreaker" to move tar
sands oil 750 miles from mining operations in Alberta through Ontario and
Quebec and across New England to Portland, Maine, where the crude would be
loaded onto tankers for export. Purportedly due to the economic downturn,
Enbridge temporarily shelved the project.

"The people of Vermont do not want to live
side-by-side with the dirtiest fuel in existence flowing through our
communities, threatening to seep into our streams and lakes and pollute our
natural resources. The Canadian government should stop this spurious
scheme," said Steve Crowley, chair of the Vermont Sierra Club. "Not
only can pipelines rupture, pumping stations can break down too, wreaking
untold harm on a community."

Alberta tar sands oil is a heavily-polluting type
of viscous crude oil, a mixture of sand, clay, water and bitumen, that must be
diluted before it can be pumped through pipelines. Diluted bitumen is more
corrosive on pipelines than conventional oil and harder to clean up when
spilled, as proven by the devastating spill of over 800,000 gallons from an
Enbridge pipeline of over one million gallons into Michigan's Kalamazoo River
in 2010.

The coalition of U.S. and Canadian public interest
and environmental groups leading efforts to stop the Trailbreaker pipeline
include:

Thursday, April 26, 2012

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The FBI on April 19 took two men into custody and
charged them with a fraud scheme that agents say bilked $624,426 from a company
doing work in the Eagle Ford shale.

Jeff Clark, 36, and Daniel Chance, 48, were charged
with wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracy in a federal indictment
returned April 18 in San Antonio.

"The scams that we traditionally see in other
areas ... are now making their way into this industry," said special agent
Erik Vasys, spokesman for the FBI in San Antonio. "Wherever big money is
involved, the scammers will come."

The FBI alleges Clark, of Kenedy, Texas, was the
principal behind the scam. The indictment says he was hired by DCP Midstream
L.P., a subsidiary of the Denver-based company that transports and markets
natural gas, in May 2010 as a contract right-of-way damages agent. He was put
under contract with Gilcrease & Partners, now known as G&P Land in San
Antonio, which provides such agents, the indictment said.

Clark's job was to track compliance with landowner
contracts, maintain contact with landowners, address their complaints and issue
payments to them for damages to property resulting from pipeline construction.
Like other DCP agents, he was given a DCP checkbook for the payments.

The indictment said Clark wrote DCP checks to buy
items for his own personal use, and received kickbacks on checks he wrote to
others - sometimes for damages that never occurred.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

HOUSTON, Texas - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners,
L.P. (NYSE: KMP) on April 18 increased its quarterly cash distribution per common
unit to $1.20 ($4.80 annualized) payable on May 15 to unitholders of record as
of April 30.

This represents a five percent increase over the first
quarter 2011 cash distribution per unit of $1.14 ($4.56 annualized) and is up
from $1.16 per unit ($4.64 annualized) for the fourth quarter of 2011. KMP has
increased the distribution 43 times since current management took over in
February of 1997.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

MONTROSE, Pa. - State regulators and natural gas
company officials faced nearly two hours of questions from residents about
safety, air pollution and eroded public confidence during a briefing on April
17 at Montrose Area High School about a recent natural gas compressor station
explosion.

Officials with the state Department of Environmental Protection and Williams,
the company that owns the compressor station, sought to fill in gaps in the
public understanding of the explosion and fire at the Lathrop station on March
29 and reassure citizens that the operations are safe.

Frank Billings, vice president for Williams' natural gas gathering and
processing operations for the region, said the incident began with a worker
error during maintenance of one of the compressor engines at the station. The
company has since reviewed and reiterated its training protocols.

The mistake allowed gas to enter the compressor
before it was ready, and the gas in the building ignited. Workers evacuated the
site safely, he said. One employee suffered a minor injury that was reported
after the incident.

"It was really a failure to follow one of our basic administration and
safety procedures," he said.

About Me

Noel Griese is the author of 17 books and numerous articles on various subjects. He has been a newspaper reporter and editor and has taught English and journalism at the Universities of Wisconsin and Georgia. Elected to both the Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies, he holds three degrees in English and journalism.